Spun glass crimper



1966 J. R. HODGES ETAL SPUN GLASS CRIMPER 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 20, 1963 INVENTORS E #00655 JOHN M HALL 1386- 6, 1966 J. R. HODGES ETAL SPUN GLASS CRIMPER 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 20, 1963 Dec. 6, 1966 J. R. HODGES ETAL SPUN GLASS CRIMPER 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 20, 1963 INVENTORS United States Patent Ofifice 3,289,265 Patented Dec. 6, 1966 3,289,265 SPUN GLASS CRlll/llllli James R. Hodges, Wilmington. and John N. Hall, Newark,

Del., assignors to Joseph Bancroft 3; Sons 130., Willmington, Del, a corporation of Delaware Filed June 20, 1963, Ser. No. 289,274 14 Claims. (Cl. 28-1) This invention relates to a method and apparatus for crimping filaments composed of glass, quartz, or ceramic materials and more particularly to the crimping of such filaments in a crimper of the stutfer box type.

An object of the invention is to provide a method and apparatus of the above type having novel and improved characteristics.

Another object is to provide crimping apparatus which is particularly adapted to the crimping of filaments of the above materials and which is capable of producing a permanent set to the crimp without introducing appreciable loss of strength.

Various other objects and advantages will be apparent as the nature of the invention is more fully disclosed.

Glass yarn has a very low (about 3%) strain at break, and when unprotected by size, may easily saw itself and break.

In accordance with this invention the glass yarn is crimped to improve its flexibility and the crimped yarn is re-sized or coated to prevent filament to filament saw action breakage, while retaining the desirable elasticity characteristics of the glass yarn.

For this purpose the filaments carrying the usual sizing as received from the manufacturer are preheated to a point somewhat below the softening point of the material and fed between feed rolls into the crimping chamber of a stulfer crimper wherein the filaments are folded over and crimped as they are fed against the mass of previously crimped and compacted filaments in the chamber. The feed rolls and the crimping chamber are heated to at least the preheating temperature so as to avoid introducing strains into the filaments and to maintain the filaments in a state to receive the crimp deformation without injury. The crimping chamber is made relatively short so as to reduce the back pressure on the filaments to a point which avoids excessive strains.

From the crimping chamber the crimped filaments are passed directly into a setting chamber which may have a cross section considerably greater than that of the crimping chamber and which is maintained at a temperature of approximately the softening point of the material. In this zone the material is annealed and the strains are relieved so that the filaments retain at least most of their original strength.

Because of the increased cross section of the setting chamber the filaments open up somewhat so that the density of the mass is reduced and heat transfer through the mass is facilitated.

Due to the high temperature in the setting chamber and the gas circulating within the mass all or a part of the sizing may be burned from the filaments.

The filaments may be resized by applying additional sizing as or after they are withdrawn from the setting zone. The filaments are then in bulked form and may be further twisted or processed in any other known manner.

The nature of the invention will be better understood by referring to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which a specific embodiment has been set forth for purposes of illustration.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section through an apparatus embodying the invention with parts in elevation and parts broken away for clarity;

FIG. 2 is a section taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a transverse section taken on the line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a detail section taken on the line 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a detail section illustrating a further embodiment of the crimping tube;

FIG. 6 is a section taken on the line 6-6 of FIG. 5 but on a larger scale;

FIGS. 7, 8, 9 and 10 are detail sections illustrating additional embodiments of the crimping and setting zones;

FIG. 11 is a partial longitudinal section illustrating a modification of the apparatus of FIG. 1 adapted to produce a resized core ribbon;

FIG. 12 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 12-12 of FIG. 11; and

FIGS. 13, 14 and 15 are elevational views illustrating dillerent types of product which may be produced by the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 to 12.

Referring to the drawings more in detail the invention is shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 as embodying an apparatus comprising a base 10 carrying a pedestal 11 supporting a block 12 carrying a pivoted arm 13 in which a feed roll 14 1s journalled and is spring-pressed in feed position by a spring 15. A mating feed roll 16 is journalled n a bracket 17 carried by the base 10. The feed rolls 14 and 16 are driven by meshing gears 20 and 21 and a pulley 22 driven by a belt 23 from a motor not shown.

A crimping chamber in the form of a metal tube is mounted to pass through a bore 31 in the block 12 and in an insulating bushing 32 to prevent heat transfer from the heated tube 30 to the block 12. The inlet end of the tube 30 is disposed at the bite of the feed rolls 14 and 16 to receive the filaments therefrom. The bore of the tube 30 is of a diameter greater than the thickness of. the feed rolls 14 and 16 to receive the filaments therefrom. An inlet port 3th: may be formed in tube 30 for the passage of hot air or gases into the interior of the tube 30. The tube 30 carries at its discharge end a block 34 having a bore communicating with the bore of the tube 30 and of substantially larger diameter to provide a setting chamber having at least twice the cross-sectional area of the tube 30. A liner 36 having a bore 35 and having at its inner end an annular shoulder 37 is disposed within the block 34. The shoulder 37 forms an annular passage 38. The end portion of the liner 36 is formed with longitudinal slots 39 which establish communications between the recess 38 and the bore 35. A pipe 39a is connected to supply a gas to the recess 38. The block 34 is supported from the block 12 by screws 37a.

The mass of crimped filaments from the setting chamber is discharged onto a trough 42.

Resizing may be applied to the mass of crimped filaments on the trough 42 by a ring 43 having jet openings 44 and mounted on a bracket 45. The crimped yarn 46 is extracted from the mass or core on the trough 42 by a suitable winder, not shown, and is passed over a coating roll 47 dipping into a coating solution in a tank 48. The yarn 46 is pressed against the roll 47 by a pivoted pad 49 which may have a low friction surface such as Teflon. The core of crimped filaments on the trough 42 rests upon a feeler arm 4211 which actuates a mercury switch 421; in a sense to control the drive motor for either the feed rolls or the winder so as to maintain a mass of the core at this point.

A preheating tube 50 is supported in advance of the feed rolls 14 and 16 by a bracket 51 carried by an arm 52 of a support 53. The discharge end of the preheater tube 50 is disposed adjacent the bite of the feed rolls for guid- 3 ing the filaments thereto. The tube 50 and the feed rolls are enclosed in a housing 54 supported by the block 12 and carrying a heating coil 55.

The filaments 60 are guided from a package 61 to the preheater tube 50 through an eye 56 supported on an arm 58.

In operation the filaments 60 are fed through the preheater tube 50 wherein they are heated to a temperature below the softening point of the glass, but sufliciently high to allow the filaments to crimp without breaking. For glass filaments this preheating temperature may be, for example, of the order of 800 F.

From the preheating tube 50 the filaments are fed by the feed rolls 14 and 16 into the crimping tube 39 which is also heated to at least the above temperature. From the highly packed state of the crimped filaments in the crimping chamber the filaments pass into the setting chamber 40 in which they open up to reduce the strain at the points of crimp and to make the mass more pervious to air and heat. In this setting chamber the filaments are heated to about the softening temperature of the glass such for example as about 1200 F. At this temperature the filaments are annealed to relieve the strains and at the same time the sizing is burned off.

An inert gas may be supplied through the pipe 39a to prevent the sizing from burning in the setting chamber, or heated air or a purging gas may be supplied through this pipe if desired.

As the yarn which is discharged from the crimper has had its protective size burned off, it is particularly susceptible to damage. Also as it is still hot, it is susceptible to having its crimp pulled out. Hence the yarn is allowed to cool below its setting temperature while it rests in core form on the trough 42. Resizing is applied to the yarn while on the trough 42 by jets 44. This resizing may of course be applied by other means as by dripping or immersion and allowed to dry before packaging. It is particularly desirable to have the coating or sizing applied to the individual filaments rather than to the bundle or yarn as a whole as this aids withdrawal of the yarn from the core form without breakage and contributes to the flexibility and bulk of the crimped yarn.

It is particularly desirable to have this coating be about individual filaments rather than gluing the yarn together as a whole, as this aids withdrawal of the yarn from the core form without breakage and contributes to the flexibility and bulk of the crimped yarn.

Conventional coating applied from a liquid vehicle tends to stick the filaments together upon evaporation of the vehicle. On the other hand if the coating is applied by a two-stage liquid treatment, the individual filaments may be effectively coated without causing them to stick together. For this purpose the first liquid may be applied to the core by the jets 44 or may be introduced in gaseous or vapor form through passage 38 and allowed to condense on the filaments while the second liquid is applied by the coating roll 47 after the yarn has been extracted from the core. Subsequent washing and drying and lubrication and finish may be carried out on the way to the winder.

Examples of two-part coating material are: metered sebacocyl chloride and hexamethylene diamine to form a linear nylon polymer coating. Metered sebacocyl chloride and hot glycerine to form a three dimensional linear polymer coating. Other well known resizing, coating or finishing materials may be used.

In the embodiment of FIGS. and 6 the crimping tube 30 and the block 34 in the form of FIGS. 1 to 4 are replaced by a tube 62 having a cylindrical bore 63 which forms a crimping chamber and a setting chamber. The other elements of this form are similar to those described above and have not been repeated. The core mass of crimped yarns is discharged from the chamber 63 onto supporting rods 64 from which the individual yarn is withdrawn as in the embodiment of FIG. 1.

In the embodiment of FIG. 7 the tube 30 and block 34 of FIGS. 1 to 4 are replaced by a housing 65 having a bore 66 at its inlet end and a bore 67 at its outlet end joined by a curved wall 68 which provides a gradual and smooth transition from the smaller to the larger bores.

FIG. 8 shown as embodiment similar to FIG. 7 except that the larger end of the bore has a continuously enlarging outwardly flared wall 69.

In the embodiment of FIG. 9 the tube 30 carries a plurality of concentric telescoping tubes 70, 71 and 72 which are adjustable axially to form a series of stepped setting chambers of successively increasing diameters. The tubes 7th, 71 and 72 may be held retracted by a tension spring 72a and may be extended by the friction of the core or may be secured by set screws 72b.

In the form of FIG. 10 the tube 30 and the bore 35 are joined by a curved Wall '73 and the exit end of the bore 35 is constricted by a plug 74 having a bore 75 with a flared entrance end 76. The crimped yarn is extracted through the bore '75 by a pair of delivery rolls 77. The plug 74 may be set in the bore 35 by set screws or may be spring pressed by spring 74b to conform to the amount of the core in the chamber 40.

In all of these embodiments the remaining elements are similar to those of FIGS. 1 to 4.

in the embodiment of FIGS. 11 and 12 the apparatus is similar to that of FIG. 1 up to and including the setting chamber In FIGS. 11 and 12 the setting chamber 40 discharges the filament core between a pair of rolls and 81. which are adapted to flatten the core into the form of a flattened compacted web. The roll 81 is driven by suitable means, not shown. The roll 80 is mounted on pivoted arms 83 and rests upon the web 82. The upward movement of the arms 83 is limited by adjustable stop screws 84. Upper and lower housing members 85 and 86, carried by the block 34a, substantially enclose the rolls 3%) and $1. The lower housing member 86 carries a horizontal table 87 on which the ribbon 82 is supported. Upper and lower nozzles 88 and 89 are positioned to direct a spray of resizing material onto the ribbon 82 as it feeds along the table 87. The lower nozzle 89 feeds its spray through slots 90 in the table 37. The ribbon 82 then passes over a coating roll 91 dipping in a coating solution in a tank 92 thence to a winder, not shown. The ribbon 82 is pressed on the roll 91 by a pressure pad 93 of low friction material such as Teflon.

A control switch 94 is actuated by a feeler arm 95 disposed in the setting chamber 49) and adapted to control the feed so as to maintain a core of crimped material at this point. The rolls 3% and 81 are connected for operation in unison by gears 96 and 97.

FIG. 13, 14- and 15 illustrate some of the products which can be made in the above described crimping apparatus. The nature of the product can be varied by varying the back pressure, the temperature in the various chambers, and the time during which the filaments are subjected to the crimping and setting temperatures. The preheating temperature and the twist are other factors which determine the nature of the product.

FIG. 13 illustrates a product made from continuous filament glass fibers having a relatively high degree of twist and processed in the apparatus of FIG. 1 under conditions such that the filaments are preheated to a temperature below the softening temperature of the glass and fed at a rate such that partial setting takes place in the crimping chamber with final setting in the setting chamber wherein the filaments are less highly packed than in the crimping chamber. The filaments first coil into the form of tight helices in the crimping chamber 3%. These helices open up and separate to some extent as the filaments expand into the setting chamber 40 from which they are discharged in the form of a compacted core. The product is shown in FIG. 13 in the general form of a series of tight helices 100 separated by lengths ltilt of less highly crimped yarn. The relative lengths of the helices and of the connecting portions depend upon the back pressure in the setting chamber and the temperature and time constants which determine the rate of setting.

A yarn of similar type and treatment which has a relatively low twist such as a producer twist may take the form of a series of saw tooth angular bends 102 separated by relatively straight connecting legs 103 as shown in FIG. 14. Various intermediate forms may be produced as will be readily understood. If a highly twisted yarn of the above type is passed through the straight cylindrical crimping and setting chamber 63 of FIG. 5 with a low back pressure it remains in helical form and is set into the form of a somewhat loose or open helix 105 as shown in FIG. 15. If the back pressure is increased the helix may become more compacted and the turns more irregular.

The ribbon 82 of FIG. 11 composed of the flattened core of crimped filaments may be bonded by the resizing at the points of cross-over of the filaments so as to retain its form and may be wound in the form of a package for use or for further treatment.

If desired the crimped yarn may be pulled out of the core in the heated zone before becoming completely set so that the crimp is opened up somewhat before final setting or a variously crimped, alternately thick and thin yarn can be made by varying the tension periodically as the yarn is extracted from the setting zone.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for crimping filaments which comprises a member having walls forming a confined crimping chamber having inlet and discharge ends, feed rolls mounted at said inlet end and positioned to feed said filaments into said chamber to be folded over and crimped against the mass of previously crimped filaments in said chamber, a member having walls forming a setting chamber communicating with the discharge end of said crimping chamber and having a cross sectional area sufficiently greater than that of the crimping chamber so as to cause the mass of packed filaments to open up to reduce the strain at the points of crimp and to make the mass more pervious to air and heat, means heating the setting chamber walls to a temperature of about the softening temperature of the material, said walls being adapted to transfer heat by conduction to said setting chamber for heating the filaments therein to a somewhat lower temperature.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which said setting chamber is formed with an open discharge end for discharging the crimped filaments in the form of a core and presser rolls positioned to receive said core from said setting chamber and to compact the same into the form of a web.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 including a preheating chamber disposed in advance of said feed rolls,

means feeding the filaments through said preheating chamber to the bite of said feed rolls, and means heating the filaments therein to a temperature below the softening temperature of the material.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3 in which said feed rolls are disposed in said preheating chamber.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3 in which a guide tube for said filaments extends through said preheating chamber and is disposed to guide the filaments to the bite of said feed rolls.

6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which said members are mounted in a metal bracket and heat insulating means is provided between said members and said bracket.

7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which guide means is provided to receive the mass of filaments from said setting chamber and spray means is disposed to spray a sizing material onto the mass of filaments on said guide means.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which means is provided to extract the filaments from said mass on said guide means.

9. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein a fluid passage is provided at the inlet end of said crimping chamber for the passage of heated .gas into said chamber.

10. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein a passage is formed at the inlet end of said setting chamber for the introduction of gases into the mass of fibers therein.

11. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which said crimping and setting chambers are formed in steps of progressively increasing cross-sectional areas.

12. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which at least the Walls joining said setting and crimping chambers are flared to provide a smooth transition. between said chambers.

13. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, in which said crimping and setting chambers are formed by a series of concentric telescoping tubes.

14. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which said setting chamber is provided with a restricted outlet opening and means is provided to extract the crimped filaments through said opening.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,008,846 11/1961 Caroselli -111 X 3,046,633 7/1962 Ohashi et al 2872 X 3,147,578 9/1964 Calizzano 57-29 X 3,226,792 1/ 1966 Starkie et al.

DONALL H. SLYVESTER, Primary Examiner.

R. L. LINDSAY, Assistant Examiner. 

1. APPARATUS FOR CRIMPING FILAMENTS WHICH COMPRISES A MEMBER HAVING WALLS FORMING A CONFINED CRIMPING CHAMBER HAVING INLET AND DISCHARGE ENDS, FEED ROLLS MOUNTED AT SAID INLET END AND POSITIONED TO FEED SAID FILAMENTS INTO SAID CHAMBER TO BE FOLDED OVER AND CRIMPED AGAINST THE MASS OF PREVIOUSLY CRIMPED FILAMENTS IN SAID CHAMBER, A MEMBER HAVING WALLS FORMING A SETTING CHAMBER COMMUNICATING WITH THE DISCHARGE END OF SAID CRIMPING CHAMBER AND HAVING A CROSS SECTIONAL AREA SUFFICIENTLY GREATER THAN THAT OF THE CRIMPING CHAMBER SO AS TO CAUSE THE MASS OF PACKED FILAMENTS TO OPEN UP TO REDUCE THE STRAIN AT THE POINTS OF CRIMP AND TO MAKE THE MASS MORE PERVIOUS TO AIR AND HEAT, MEANS HEATING THE SETTING CHAMBER WALLS TO A TEMPERATURE OF ABOUT THE SOFTENING TEMPERATURE OF THE MATERIAL, SAID WALLS BEING ADAPTED TO TRANSFER HEAT BY CONDUCTION TO SAID SETTING CHAMBER FOR HEATING THE FILAMENTS THEREIN TO A SOMEWHAT LOWER TEMPERATURE. 